Even though no two pillars on the bridge are the same, it is still an impressive sight. Its size alone is astonishing, even if it were not so venerable in age.
Arches, pillars and Wiedfang Canal, Beschlächte, harbor
Bridges in the area of Regensburg's old town
Bridge tower with opening for former tram passage
The Stone Bridge is a natural stone arched bridge with 16 segmental arches, of which only 14 are visible. The first bridge arch and the first pillar on the south side of the bridge were built completely underground in 1551 during the construction of the former Amberg salt store to the west and have since served as the foundations of the southern bridge tower under the southern bridge driveway. This was shown in 1989 by the findings from excavations during the renovation of the municipal salt store east of the bridge, which was built between 1616 and 1620.
The reason why the first Amberg salt store, built in 1485 by the Bavarian Duke west of the bridge, was rebuilt in 1551 and why the first bridge arch and the first bridge pillar of the Stone Bridge were then built below street level as part of the new construction of the Amberg salt store can be explained as follows: The new construction of the Amberg store had become necessary for static reasons because the subsoil had become unstable. During the 60-year lifespan of the early Amberg salt store, the first bridge arch was flowed through by the so-called Wiedfang Canal, a narrow southern branch of the Danube, which was used by boatmen with their barges to avoid the whirlpools and the countercurrent when passing the Stone Bridge. The Wiedfang Canal branched off from the Danube east of the bridgehead of the Stone Bridge, then flowed through the first bridge arch and ran to the small, medieval, sunken harbor basin to the west of the Stone Bridge, the so-called Wiedfang, where it was easy to unload and load. Over the years, the water flow in the Wiedfang Canal and the water in the harbor basin had destabilized the subsoil and thus the first Amberg barn. The harbor basin and canal were therefore abandoned and in 1551 the new, better-founded municipal Amberg salt barn was built.
The Stone Bridge is not built in a straight line, but slightly curved to the east. It follows the subsoil conditions, takes the flow of the current into account, rises towards the middle and overcomes a height of 5.50 m. The pillars are of unequal thickness and aligned differently. The bridge arches are also different.
Translated by Google •
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